Josie and the Fourth Grade Bike Brigade

Josie and the Fourth Grade Bike Brigade — page 7 — Grandma turned the car around and grabbed the phone Her friend Juana must have been on her speed dial because the next thing I knew Grandma was shouting at her a mile a minute Juana necesito tres bicicletas ahora mismo I need three bicycles right away We have to get to the beach by the back road A baby whale is stranded probably since last night Grandma hung up without even waiting for an answer She turned the car around and drove to Juana's house Juana was waiting with four bicycles three for us and one for her Without a word we all jumped out of the car and onto the bikes and were pedaling like mad The police waved us through this

Josie and the Fourth Grade Bike Brigade — page 8 — time Pretty soon we were at the beach huffing and puffing At first I couldn't see the whale because it was in the shallow water and a crowd was gathered around it Grandma was already running down to the whale and we ran behind her I had never seen a whale up close This baby was a giant Its skin was smooth in some parts and full of bumps and lumps in other parts Its big gray eye looked right at me Everyone there was getting ready to push OK everyone Grandma shouted We have to keep her wet until the tide comes in Then there'll be enough water for us to turn her and push her out Carmen it's already coming in High

Josie and the Fourth Grade Bike Brigade — page 9 — tide is in 3 hours someone was saying Then we'll keep her wet for three hours replied Grandma Suddenly half the crowd was running to their cars and bikes and shouting into their cell phones calling for buckets sheets towels and hoses The other half of the crowd stayed with the whale There were people standing in the water on either side of the whale throwing water on her to keep her skin wet When their arms got tired Damien and I took our turns My legs even bumped up against the whale's side It was much rougher than I expected and hurt my skin Finally after about two hours we noticed that the whale was sort of floating

Josie and the Fourth Grade Bike Brigade — page 10 — OK everyone Grandma Carmen was still in charge Let's try to turn this baby Uno dos y tres yelled Grandma But the whale barely budged C mon everybody at once At least 30 people crowded around the whale and we tried to turn her We knocked into each other and fell down splashing into the water Little by little we got the whale's head facing out to sea But she didn't move We pushed She still didn't move We pushed harder Nothing happened Then we heard it A sound that was like a train grumbling and then a door squeaking 11

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